Sweet Potato Casserole with Oat Streusel

The best Sweet Potato Casserole recipe! Made with rich mashed roasted sweet potatoes and a delicious crunchy brown sugar oat streusel. Perfect for Thanksgiving and easy to double!

Make ahead tips included!

Sweet potatoes are one of our favorite side dishes for Thanksgiving. We of course also love it throughout the year. It’s the perfect slightly sweet and crunchy dish to complement Thanksgiving dinner. I love the sweet potato casserole that has pecans and marshmallows but my husband is allergic to pecans and doesn’t like marshmallows. So last year I set out to make the perfect Sweet Potato Casserole that he could enjoy. And I DID IT! I’m just a little excited because I spent months perfecting this recipe just for him AND all of you! And IT’S PERFECT!

(Note: You can add pecans and marshmallows to this if you’d like. I’ve included instructions for that in the recipe.)

This dish is amazing! The mashed sweet potato mixture has just the right amount of sweetness and such a fabulous flavor. Then the oat streusel is sweet and crunchy. There’s plenty of it so it’s in every bite!

I made this recipe so many different ways until I perfected it. At first, I wasn’t sure if adding eggs would make a big difference so I made half with eggs and half without. A few of us taste tested it and it was clear that eggs made a huge difference. It adds more depth of flavor and richness.

I’ve also made it mashed with a potato masher and an electric mixer. That texture is up to you but I personally prefer it with the potato masher so it’s not completely smooth.

If you want even more spice, you could add about 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg to the sweet potato mixture.

This oat streusel is to-die-for! Brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and butter. Yum! If you want, you can even add some chopped pecans or use it in place of the oats. But since my husband can’t have pecans I just use oats and it’s amazing this way! The topping is still crunchy and so tasty!

MAKE AHEAD TIPS:

-Bake the sweet potatoes 1-2 days before you need it. Keep stored in the refrigerator.

-Prepare the casserole according to directions until you get to the baking step. Then cover and keep in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. Before baking, uncover and bring to room temperature. Bake for 5-10 minutes longer than recipe directions. You could store the oat streusel topping separately if you’d like then add it before baking.

-The assembled and baked casserole can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, bring to room temperature and then bake according to directions. Adding 5-10 minutes if needed.

Peel off the potato skin (using your hands, it comes off easily) and put potatoes in a large bowl. Add the softened butter, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and eggs. Mash until smooth. (Use an electric mixer if you want the texture to be really smooth.) Spoon the sweet potato mixture into the prepared baking dish and smooth out.

In a small bowl, use a small rubber spatula to mix together the melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and cinnamon. Crumble over sweet potatoes.

This can easily be made ahead of time. You can bake the sweet potatoes 1-2 days before and once cool, keep them stored in the fridge in an airtight container. (Ziplocks work great.)

Also, the sweet potato mixture and oat streusel can be prepared but instead of baking, cover tightly and store in the fridge, up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature. Add about 5-10 minutes longer to the bake time.

Assembled and baked casserole can be frozen up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, bring to room temperature and then bake according to directions in the recipe, adding 5-10 minutes to baking time if needed.

Notes

If you'd like to add marshmallows, once the Sweet Potato Casserole is finished baking, add 3-4 cups of marshmallows and bake for another 3-5 minutes.Or, you can add the marshmallows on top of the casserole before adding the streusel, then bake as directed.

Here it is with marshmallows on one side! Are you team marshmallow or no marshmallows? You can either add the marshmallows under the streusel before baking or on top after the casserole is baked. Do as you please!

Comments

I am excited to make this! I have a question about pre-cooking the sweet potatoes. Do I remove the skin before putting them in the fridge, or leave the skin on and remove it prior to completing the recipe steps two days later?